Saturday, October 18, 2014

After being bombarded with complaints about the wording on a scratch-off ticket, self-appointed Texas Lottery watchdog Dawn Nettles has filed a petition with the Travis County District Court.

Nettles, has been monitoring the Texas Lottery Commission's activities for over 20 years and publishing her findings on her Lotto Report website. Her latest beef with the lottery concerns the wording on their "Fun 5" scratch-off ticket. The rules of the game, as printed on the back of the ticket, state: "Reveal a 'money bag' symbol in the 5X box, win five times that prize." But hundreds of players who believed they had won a large prize have been turned away and told they have misunderstood the wording on the ticket.

Speaking of the petition, Nettles' attorney Richard LaGarde said: "We’re just trying to get some basic answers. The public deserves to know who is responsible for this situation, and what will be done about it."

Many Fun 5 players believed they had won prizes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but were sadly disappointed when they scanned their tickets and were informed they were worthless.

The new petition requests a court order to depose Texas Lottery Commission representatives, along with the lottery operator GTECH Corporation.

Prior to taking such drastic action, Nettles contacted the Lottery Commission and State officials on numerous occasions and requested someone take responsibility and rectify the problem with the offending ticket. Her pleas fell on deaf ears.

Although the legal wheels are already set in motion, Nettles is still hoping the Texas Lottery Commission will resolve the problem and prevent the need for further action.